Best of 2004: Shawn Martinbrough

Shazam! Shawn Martinbrough, 33, has been illustrating comic books since he graduated from New York's School of Visual Arts. A few years ago, DC Comics asked the Falls Church resident to draw a Detective Comics series that included a redesign of Batman's Gotham City after its destruction; other projects include the series the Losers and a comic-book miniseries called Angeltown for one of DC's adult imprints, Vertigo. But he really wants to make movies. He and two partners are lining up funding for a feature thriller. "Comic books tell a story from panel to panel," Martinbrough says. "Film tells a story from frame to frame. That's a natural jump."